Strawberry Lemon Lavender Honey Jam

Jam and bread are two of my favorite things in the whole world.

Right up there with old barns.

And cemeteries.

And gardens.

Yep. That's where you'll find jam and bread on my list.  Right there at the top.

One thing I don't like in jam is too much sugar.   I like it to be more fruit flavor than sweet flavor.   It's jam, not candy.    I usually use 1/2 as much sugar as fruit in my recipes and I'm working hard on ways to use sweeteners other than sugar.

Like maple syrup.  [Peach Maple Cardamom Jam, Peach Maple Jam, Pear Maple Jam]

And honey.  I've been thinking a lot about honey in jam.

The trick with honey is to not let the flavor of the honey overwhelm the flavor of the fruit.   I decided to play.

While I was playing, I made this jam:  Strawberry Lemon Lavender Honey Jam.

It's beautiful.   And really really good!  The honey deepened the color of the berries into a deep dark red. 

Strawberry Lemon Lavender Honey Jam

• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 3 T Dutch Jell All Natural Lite pectin
• 12 heads of lavender, tied in a bundle.
• 1 1/2 cups mild honey

Put the lemon juice, lemon zest, berries, lavender and pectin in a pot.  [You can stir with the lavender bundle.]  Bring to hard rolling boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove the lavender bundle.  Add honey.  Bring to rolling boil and boil for 1 minute.  Ladle into jars.  

Notes:  If you don't want the odd lavender flower falling off into the jam, you can strip the flowers off and put them in a tea ball to steep in the jam as it cooks.   I found it easier to just use the bundle to stir with as much as I could, then I switched to a spoon when I needed a stronger stirrer.  

The jam isn't too sweet, especially with all that lemon.   If you want it to be sweeter, you can add more honey, or sugar if you don't want the honey to take over. 

This jam also mellows with time.  What flavor might seem overwhelming when cooking will tone down after the jam sits for a few days.